The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst

The Scarlet Ibis is a short story by James Hurst weaving the tragic tale of Doodle, a disabled child and his brother, the narrator. Doodle's life has been a series of close calls; the only reason he is alive is the love and persistence – and occasional cruelty – of his brother. Brother's only motivation is to make Doodle like other kids in order to avoid the embarrassment of having a six-year-old brother who cannot even walk, amounting to what is, in essence, a battle with his own ego.As the story continues, Brother tries to fix the irreparable hole in his heart caused by his shame and selfishness toward Doodle. Brother is constantly reminding Doodle of his own debility, bringing to light Doodle's unwillingness to participate in his brother's cold-blooded attempts to point out Doodle's mortality. When Brother makes Doodle touch the casket, he knows what to expect from Doodle. â€Å"Doodle was paralyzed, so I put him on my shoulder and carried him down the ladder, and e ven when we were outside in the sunlight, he clung to me, crying, ‘Don't leave me.Don't leave me. ‘†(486). Doodle is utterly terrified of the casket, and his brother is aware of it. By making Doodle touch the casket, he is imprinting upon Doodle that he can never be normal, that he will always be teetering on the brink of life and death, never to be able to live up to his full potential. However cruel Brother's actions may be, he still takes an interest in Doodle, purely for his self-satisfaction. â€Å"When Doodle was five years old, I was embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn't walk, so I set out to teach him. (488) Brother teaches Doodle how to walk, but it is purely for his own conscience. Embarrassed by Doodle's condition, he tries to fix Doodle's many abnormalities, without considering Doodle's own views and feelings. The only thing that Brother wanted was a sibling with which he could play with, and the arrival of Doodle shattered his hopes . As a result, he makes Doodle pay for it on many occasions, the last of which took the life of his younger brother. â€Å"For a long, long time, it seemed forever, I lay there crying, sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of the rain. (493). In the end, Brother finally realizes the effects his actions have on young Doodle. The emotional trauma of his brother abandoning him in the rain combined with his preexisting physical conditions came together in a perfect storm, bringing to light the final effects of Brother's ambition-driven actions, a simple childhood act of spite with devastating results. Throughout the story, Brother tries to show both sides of the double-edged sword that is pride. I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death. †(488) Brother's pride pushes him to give Doodle an existence away from his bed, and it is this obsession that leads to Doodle's tragic demise. Brother's pride did creat e a facsimile of real life for Doodle, but in the end, it crumbled, brought to its knees by pride and selfishness. Brother did love Doodle, but his ego overshadowed the fact the he was just trying to protect Doodle from a world that doesn't tolerate those that are different.Doodle dies sad and broken, abandoned by the one person he looked up to. Brother proves himself no better than Doodle, showing himself to be as morally destitute as Doodle is physically incapable. In the end, however, Brother realizes that Doodle could not have led the life he left without his big brother leading the way for him. Brother may have acted cruelly toward his brother, but in the end, he realizes that some things cannot be changed, no matter the amount of love and persistence.

A Freshwater Aquatic and Terrestrial Food Web

————————————————- Food web From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia A  freshwater  aquatic  and  terrestrial  food web. A  food web  (or  food cycle) depicts feeding connections (what eats what) in an  ecological communityand hence is also referred to as a  consumer-resource system. Ecologists can broadly lump all life forms into one of two categories called  trophic levels: 1) the  autotrophs, and 2) the  heterotrophs. To  maintaintheir bodies, grow, develop, and to  reproduce, autotrophs produce  organic  matter from  inorganicsubstances, including both  minerals  and  gases  such as  carbon dioxide.These  chemical reactionsrequire  energy, which mainly comes from the  sun  and largely by  photosynthesis, although a very small amount comes from  hydrothermal vents  and  hot springs. A gradient exists between troph ic levels running from complete autotrophs that obtain their sole source of carbon from the atmosphere, to  mixotrophs(such as  carnivorous plants) that are autotrophic organisms that partially obtain organic matter from sources other than the atmosphere, and complete  heterotrophs  that must feed to obtain organic matter.The linkages in a food web illustrate the feeding pathways, such as where heterotrophs obtain organic matter by feeding on autotrophs and other heterotrophs. The food web is a simplified illustration of the various methods of feeding that links an ecosystem into a unified system of exchange. There are different kinds of feeding relations that can be roughly divided into  herbivory,  carnivory,  scavenging  andparasitism. Some of the organic matter eaten by heterotrophs, such as  sugars, provides energy.Autotrophs and heterotrophs come in all sizes, from  microscopic  to many  tonnes  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ from  cyanobacteria  togiant redwoods, and from  viruses  and  bdellovibrio  to  blue whales. Charles Elton  pioneered the concept of food cycles, food chains, and food size in his classical 1927 book â€Å"Animal Ecology†; Elton's ‘food cycle' was replaced by ‘food web' in a subsequent ecological text. Elton organized species into  functional groups, which was the basis for  Raymond Lindeman's classic and landmark paper in 1942 on trophic dynamics.Lindeman emphasized the important role of  decomposer  organisms in a  trophic system of classification. The notion of a food web has a historical foothold in the writings of  Charles Darwin  and his terminology, including an â€Å"entangled bank†, â€Å"web of life†, â€Å"web of complex relations†, and in reference to the decomposition actions of earthworms he talked about â€Å"the continued movement of the particles of earth†. Even earlier, in 1768  John Bruckner  described nature as â€Å"one contin ued web of life†. ————————————————-Food webs are limited representations of real ecosystems as they necessarily aggregate many species into  trophic species, which are functional groups of species that have the same predators and prey in a food web. Ecologists use these simplifications in  quantitative  (or mathematical)  models  of trophic orconsumer-resource systems  dynamics. Using these models they can measure and test for generalized patterns in the structure of real food web networks. Ecologists have identified non-random properties in the  topographic  structure of food webs. Published examples that are used in  meta analysis  are of variable quality with omissions.However, the number of empirical studies on community webs is on the rise and the mathematical treatment of food webs usingnetwork theory  had identified patterns that are comm on to all. Scaling laws, for example, predict a relationship between the topology of food web predator-prey linkages and levels of  species richness. Trophic levels Main article:  Trophic level A trophic pyramid (a) and a simplified community food web (b) illustrating ecological relations among creatures that are typical of a northern  Boreal  terrestrial ecosystem. The trophic pyramid roughly represents the biomass (usually measured as total dry-weight) at each level.Plants generally have the greatest biomass. Names of trophic categories are shown to the right of the pyramid. Some ecosystems, such as many wetlands, do not organize as a strict pyramid, because aquatic plants are not as productive as long-lived terrestrial plants such as trees. Ecological trophic pyramids are typically one of three kinds: 1) pyramid of numbers, 2) pyramid of biomass, or 3) pyramid of energy. [4] Food webs have trophic levels and positions. Basal species, such as plants, form the first level a nd are the resource limited species that feed on no other living creature in the web.Basal species can be autotrophs ordetritivores, including â€Å"decomposing organic material and its associated microorganisms which we defined as detritus, micro-inorganic material and associated microorganisms (MIP), and vascular plant material. â€Å"[11]:94  Most autotrophs capture the sun's energy in  chlorophyll, but some autotrophs (the  chemolithotrophs) obtain energy by the chemical oxidation of inorganic compounds and can grow in dark environments, such as the sulfur bacterium  Thiobacillus, which lives in hot  sulfur springs.The top level has top (or apex) predators which no other species kills directly for its food resource needs. The intermediate levels are filled with omnivores that feed on more than one trophic level and cause energy to flow through a number of food pathways starting from a basal species. [12] ——————— Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- In the simplest scheme, the first trophic level (level 1) is plants, then herbivores (level 2), and then carnivores (level 3). The trophic level is equal to one more than the chain length, which is the number of links connecting to the base.The base of the food chain (primary producers or  detritivores) is set at zero. [3][13]  Ecologists identify feeding relations and organize species into trophic species through extensive gut content analysis of different species. The technique has been improved through the use of stable isotopes to better trace energy flow through the web. [14]  It was once thought that omnivory was rare, but recent evidence suggests otherwise. This realization has made trophic classifications more complex. [15] Energy flow and biomass Main article:  Energy flow (ecology) See also:  Ecological efficiencyThe Law of Conservation of Mass dates from Antoine Lavoisier's 1789 discovery that ma ss is neither created nor destroyed in chemical reactions. In other words, the mass of any one element at the beginning of a reaction will equal the mass of that element at the end of the reaction. [24]:11 Left:  Energy flow diagram of a frog. The frog represents a node in an extended food web. The energy ingested is utilized for metabolic processes and transformed into biomass. The energy flow continues on its path if the frog is ingested by predators, parasites, or as a decaying  carcass  in soil.This energy flow diagram illustrates how energy is lost as it fuels the metabolic process that transform the energy and nutrients into biomass. Right:  An expanded three link energy food chain (1. plants, 2. herbivores, 3. carnivores) illustrating the relationship between food flow diagrams and energy transformity. The transformity of energy becomes degraded, dispersed, and diminished from higher quality to lesser quantity as the energy within a food chain flows from one trophic s pecies into another. Abbreviations: I=input, A=assimilation, R=respiration, NU=not utilized, P=production, B=biomass. 25] Food webs depict energy flow via trophic linkages. Energy flow is directional, which contrasts against the cyclic flows of material through the food web systems. [26]  Energy flow â€Å"typically includes production, consumption, assimilation, non-assimilation losses (feces), and respiration (maintenance costs). â€Å"[5]:5  In a very general sense, energy flow (E) can be defined as the sum ofmetabolic  production (P) and respiration (R), such that E=P+R. The mass (or biomass) of something is equal to its energy content. Mass and energy are closely intertwined.However, concentration and quality of nutrients and energy is variable. Many plant fibers, for example, are indigestible to many herbivores leaving grazer community food webs more nutrient limited than detrital food webs where bacteria are able to access and release the nutrient and energy stores. [ 27][28]†Organisms usually extract energy in the form of carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins. These polymers have a dual role as supplies of energy as well as building blocks; the part that functions as energy supply results in the production of nutrients (and carbon dioxide, water, and heat).Excretion of nutrients is, therefore, basic to metabolism. â€Å"[28]:1230-1231  The units in energy flow webs are typically a measure mass or energy per m2  per unit time. Different consumers are going to have different metabolic assimilation efficiencies in their diets. Each trophic level transforms energy into biomass. Energy flow diagrams illustrate the rates and efficiency of transfer from one trophic level into another and up through the hierarchy. [29][30] ————————————————-It is the case that the  biomass  of each  trophic level  decreases from the base of the chain to the top. This is because energy is lost to the environment with each transfer as  entropy  increases. About eighty to ninety percent of the energy is expended for the organism’s life processes or is lost as heat or waste. Only about ten to twenty percent of the organism’s energy is generally passed to the next organism. [31]  The amount can be less than one percent in animals consuming less digestible plants, and it can be as high as forty percent in  zooplankton  consuming  phytoplankton. 32]  Graphic representations of the biomass or productivity at each tropic level are called  ecological pyramids  or trophic pyramids. The transfer of energy from primary producers to top consumers can also be characterized by energy flow diagrams. [33] Food Web A  food web  is a graphical description of feeding relationships among species in an  ecological community, that is, of who eats whom (Fig. 1). It is also a means of showing how  energy   and materials (e. g. ,  carbon) flow through a community of  species  as a result of these feeding relationships.Typically, species are connected by lines or arrows called â€Å"links†, and the species are sometimes referred to as â€Å"nodes† in food web diagrams. Relationships between soil food web, plants, organic matter, and birds and mammals. â€Å"The  herbivores  are usually preyed upon by carnivores, which get the  energy  of the  sunlight  at third-hand, and these again may be preyed upon by other carnivores, and so on, until we reach an animal which has no enemies, and which forms, as it were, a terminus on this food cycle. There are, in fact, chains of animals linked together by food, and all dependent in the long run upon plants.We refer to these as ‘food-chains', and to all the food chains in a community as the ‘food-cycle. ‘† A food web differs from a food chain in that the latter shows only a portion of the food web involving a simple, linear series of species (e. g. ,  predator,  herbivore,  plant) connected by feeding links. A food web aims to depict a more complete picture of the feeding relationships, and can be considered a bundle of many interconnected food chains occurring within the community. All species occupying the same position within a food chain comprise a trophic level within the food web.For instance, all of the plants in the foodweb comprise the first or â€Å"primary producer† tropic level, all  herbivores  comprise the second or â€Å"primary consumer† trophic level, and carnivores that eat  herbivores  comprise the third or â€Å"secondary consumer† trophic level. Additional levels, in which carnivores eat other carnivores, comprise a tertiary trophic level. Elton emphasized early on that food chains tend to show characteristic patterns of increasing body size as one moves up the food chain, for example from  phytoplankton  to inv ertebrate grazers to fishes, or from insects to rodents to larger carnivores like foxes.Because individuals of small-bodied species require less  energy  and food than individuals of larger-bodied species, a given amount ofenergy  can support a greater number of individuals of the smaller-bodied species. Hence, ecological communities typically show what Elton called a pyramid of numbers (later dubbed the Eltonian pyramid), in which the species at lower trophic levels in the food web tend to be more numerous than those at higher trophic levels.A second reason for the pyramid of numbers is low ecological efficiency: some  energy  is lost at each transfer between consumer and prey, such that theenergy  that reaches top predators is a very small fraction of that available in the plants at the base of the food web. Although there is wide variation among types of  organisms  and types of  ecosystems, a general rule of thumb is that available  energydecreases by about a n order of magnitude at each step in the food chain.That is, only about 10% of theenergy  harvested by plants is consumed and converted into herbivore  biomass, only 10% of that makes it into  biomass  of primary carnivores, and so on. Thus, the structure of food webs is dictated in part by basic constraints set by  thermodynamics. The predictable dissipation of  energy  at each step in food chains is one of the factors thought to limit the length of most food chains to a maximum of four or five steps. Cohen et al. (2003) emphasized that the correlations mong body size, abundance, and trophic level produce a characteristic trivariate structure to (pelagic) food webs (Fig. 2). The pyramid of numbers is less obvious at the most basal levels in terrestrial communities based on trees, which are typically much larger than theherbivores  that feed on them. Pyramids of numbers or  biomass  may even be inverted in cases where the microscopic plants that support the web s how very rapid turnover, that is, where they grow and are eaten so rapidly that there is less plant  biomass  than herbivore  biomass  present at a given time. ————————————————-Decomposers are an assemblage of small  organisms, including invertebrates,  fungi, and  bacteria, that do not fit neatly into any trophic level because they consume dead  biomass  of organisms from all trophic levels. Decomposers are a critical component of the food web, however, because they recycle nutrients that otherwise would become sequestered in accumulating detritus. All food chains in a community constitute a food web. A  food web is simply the total set of feeding relationship amongst and between the species composing a biotic community. These relationships may achieve considerable complexity.With many food chains and cross connecting links, there is greater opportunit y for the prey and predator population in an ecosystem to adjust to the changes. ————————————————- The producer-consumer arrangement is one kind of structure known as trophic structure(trophic = food) and each food (nutritional) level in the food chain is called trophic level  or energy level. The first trophic level in an ecosystem is occupied by the plants-producers (green plant-primary producers), because they utilize solar energy which is transformed to chemical form during photosynthesis.The energy stored in food or green plants is consumed by the plant eaters (herbivores) which make the second trophic level. Herbivores are also called primaryconsumers. Primary consumers in turn are eaten by carnivores (also known as secondary consumers) which occupy third trophic level. Secondary consumers (Primary carnivores) may be eaten by other carnivores (secondary or top carn ivores) which are known as tertiary consumers and occupy fourth trophic level. Decomposer occupy fifth trophic level in an ecosystem.Food Web- In nature, food chain relationships are very complex. They never operate as isolated sequences, as one organism may form the food source of many organisms and so on. Thus, instead of a food chain, a number of food chains are interconnected with each other and form a web-like structure known as ‘food web'. For example, grass may be grazed by grasshoppers as well as cattle, rabbits and each of these may be eaten by different type of carnivores, such as birds, toads, snakes, foxes, depending on their food habit.Thus, a particular organism may not occupy the same tropic level in every food chain; it may simultaneously behave as secondary, tertiary or a top consumer. Organisms, whose food is obtained from plants by the same number of steps are said to belong to the same tropic level. Thus, green plants occupy the first tropic level or the pr oducer level. The plant grazers occupy the second tropic level or primary consumer or herbivore level (all plant-grazing insects, cattle, deer, rabbits, etc. ).Flesh-eaters, that eat herbivores, form the third tropic level or the secondary consumer or carnivore level-1 (frogs, small fish, etc. ). The third tropic level is the tertiary consumer or carnivore level-2, which eats the flesh of herbivores and secondary consumers. In a similar fashion, tropic levels can be expanded based on the food habits of organisms. Charles Elton, a British ecologist, however, concluded that the number of links in a food chain rarely exceeds five, because in the process of energy transfer there is always the loss of energy to the environment.It is the energy transfer mechanism which determines the number of links in a food chain. Man and many other animals who are omnivores occupy different tropic levels in food chains in relation to pure carnivores. The food web maintains the stability of the eco-syst em. For example, green land can be grazed by different organisms like insects, rabbits, rodents, etc. The insects then can be eaten by frogs which can be eaten by snakes. Snakes can either be eaten by hawks

My Term Paper

Principles Of Management Wk 1: Dis In this week’s discussion you will begin to explain the four management functions and the evolution of management thought. In Chapter 11, â€Å"Motivation† read pages 360-390 and answer questions from â€Å"Why Won’t They Take a Break? † on page 391. Discuss the following: Which motivation theory(s) do you think would help communicate the importance of vacation time to your employees? I would go with McClellands learned needs theory. This theory suggest that people are motivated by need of affiliation as well as achievement.I think by explaining to employees the benefit of vacation time could be used to express the importance of it, by suggesting to employees that vacation time can be used for time other than the goal to save for a vacation. emergency's can arise and vacation time is a helpful way to get through what could possibly be a tough patch as well as the perks of taking vacation time for in fact a vacation. the b enefits could be used to suit the individuals needs as well as personal goals. How would you convince your employees that working less hours, not more, is more beneficial for them and the company?I would honestly explain to my employees how working less hours can prevent them from becoming ‘burned out' and decreasing performance. I would also explain plainly how by working more hours when not necessary is draining on the company and its ability to afford the employee's salary's. however i would one on one discuss the goals of each employee using McClellands theory's to work with the individual at reaching those personal goals even with a lack of excessive hours required. Please remember to cite the text and any outside sources used. Wk 2: DisConsider the particular management functions which apply to scenarios such as domestic and international business. For this week’s class discussion you will locate a news article which will help you to explain and apply these manage ment functions. First, find a recent news article about an organization that is experiencing change. Then, discuss the following: How is the organization applying each of the four functions of management (planning, organizing, leading, controlling) to address this change? I found a news article on Starbucks. Starbuck has a threat to their coffee supply due to climate change.Starbuck used the four functions of management and their results are showing success. Planning: Their goal is to reduce the Green House Gasses. Their means to succeed is to come up with an efficiency program to reduce their environmental footprint, use reusable energy, and reduce carbon emissions Organizing: They tried to talk to congress to take action but failed. So they started to work with local producers to take their own action. Leading: They partnered up with Conservation International to improve their production, and to conserve and restore natural habitat. The also worked with farmers in order to reduce carbon emissions.Control: They are keeping track of their progress by conducting an inventory of their use of Green House Gas. The result in 2010 was 1,006,854 metric tons of GHG they were using. In 2011 the results were 979,963 metric ton of GHG being used. A reduction of 2. 7%. They are continuing to monitor the GHG use. Since the efficiency program is working they will continue trying to find more ways to reduce their use of GHG. http://www. starbucks. com/responsibility/environment/climate-change Wk 3: Dis Now that you have learned about aspects of the communications model, such as anaging communication, planning, and decision making, you will explain the communications model from the sender’s and receiver’s perspectives in this week’s class discussion. Discuss the following: Explain the steps to successfully communicate a message to a receiver. Which steps of the process do you find most challenging in your communications and why? The first step is the mess age†¦. The message is the information that you want to communicate. The next step is encoding†¦ This is the process of transferring the information you want to communicate into a form that can be sent and correctly decoded at the other end. Your success in encoding depends partly on your ability to convey information clearly and simply, but also on your ability to anticipate and eliminate sources of confusion the key part of this is knowing your audience. Failure to understand who you are communicating with will result in delivering messages that are misunderstood. channel†¦ messages are conveyed through channels, with verbal including face-to-face meetings, telephone and videoconferencing; and written including letters, emails, memos and reports. Different channels have different strengths and weaknesses. decoding†¦Just as successful encoding is a skill, so is successful decoding just as confusions can arise from errors in encoding, it can also arise from decodi ng errors. This is particularly the case if the decoder doesn't have enough knowledge to understand the message. receiver†¦ your message is delivered to individual members of your audience. No doubt, you have in mind the actions or reactions you hope your message will get from this audience. Keep in mind, though, that each of these individuals enters into the communication process with ideas and feelings that will undoubtedly influence their understanding of your message, and their response.To be a successful communicator you should consider these before delivering your message, and act appropriately. Wk 5: Dis You have read about ethics and social responsibility, and perhaps watched this week’s video selection. Consider what you have learned, and apply it to your own business area. In this week’s class discussion, you will describe ethical situations in a manager’s role related to your area of study. Discuss the following: Describe three common ethical iss ues facing managers in your chosen industry. The industry of my choice is Business management.I chose this because I want to own my own business and be my own boss. The three ethical issues that I feel that managers are facing in this industry is 1. Discrimination 2. Fraud 3. Authority. 1. Discrimination is a serious issue in a lot of businesses today. Some companies discriminate against race, sex/gender, and most often now sexual preference. There is a place in my town that actually won't hire anyone but Mexicans because they are said they work harder than anyone else. Sure they have a few of blacks and whites there.My so called in-law is a supervisor there and told me before I put in my application that they are not gonna hire me because they want more Mexicans. It's crazy but true and it's not fair. I am a hard worker and I shouldn't be denied a job because of my race. 2. Fraud is another issue and a lot of are guilty of it. Employees and managers are guilty of it just to get a h igher position or just hired. Some lie about education and work history. We lie because most companies don't check everything on the application. If everything was checked then it would be a lot of sad unemployed people.Lying about education, work history and qualification is in every company. This â€Å"person† I know found a website to get fake GEDs and she is using hers. She been with the company for 3 years. If they are not gonna check all information on applications then they are lying themselves. They say they go over applications and they don't. 3. Authority is the biggest issue to me personally. I have worked for my in-law about 10 years ago (before the mexican issue) and she abused her authority. She felt that since she was in a higher position she would use it and make us (workers) so some of her work.She would pull some of us off our machines to do inventory. We did it for a while until the plant had a company meeting. We were told what our jobs were and asked why were doing other things that kept our production low. No one spoke up until I did. Some feared they would lose their jobs but not ME. I told on her and she was so they started making her do inventory and record it on paper. She was mad at me and I didn't care because she was not my cup of tea anyway. We all got a $1 raise because we had done our job and part of hers also. Wk 6: DisIn this week’s class discussion, you will consider the legal, ethical, and social implications of real world business practices. Find an example of a business facing a legal, ethical, and/or social responsibility dilemma. Create a one-paragraph summary of the dilemma and the steps you think the organization should take to resolve the issue. My story will be about KFC there first battle was the dead chickens that they are suppose to disposal, they continue to use them for more meat. For people to know that it can be a very big lost on customers and a very bad look on the business.The second battle wa s from a twister chicken wrap, a 14 year old girl was brain damaged from eating one it nearly killed her. She was in a coma for at least 6 months at the age of 7 trying to recover from the sickness. She had caught a disease they call Spastic Quadriplegia, and it damages all four limbs so they had no choice but to place her in a wheelchair. She was awarded 5 million from the problems that KFC caused the parents said it will be a very big help because of the situation, but she is still torn that daughter had to face these problems and deal with it for the rest of her life.This should be a lesson to everybody that is why I am so funny with my food now and seeing two things happen like this just led me with the choice of never going back KFC ever again. This is life threatening things that can happen in the line of business that's why when it comes to me having a business everything will be legit. Wk 8: Dis Managers are affected by the organizational environment, and help to create it. Their role is instrumental in a successful organizational culture. In this week’s class discussion, you will define the manager’s role as it relates to various organizational cultures.Discuss the following: Think of an organization with which you are very familiar. How flexible/rigid are the managers at this organization with regard to policies and personnel? Identify and describe the factors you think helped to shape this organization’s culture. Strategic planning involves a set of procedures for making decisions about the organizations long-term goals. In order to achieve these goals, managers have to devise a plan that incorporates both flexible and ridged forms of management (Bohlander ; Snell, 2010). On many occasions in the past, I have worked as a customer service agent.In this position, customer agents have access to personal information of their customer. Customer service agents must comply with laws set forth by the government. Not following these proc edures during every call could possibly render huge fines or, worst case scenario, dissolution of the organization. For this reason, certain disclosures and/or disclaimers must be stated during each and every call. In this case, I had very rigid rules, regulations, policies and procedures to follow in order to avoid legal ramifications or loss of employment.At the same time, I was given some empowerment in order to satisfy customer complaints and issues such as changes to the account, issuing credits, or billing discrepancies. Helping customers find the best solution to their problem requires some flexibility, but the degree was still limited. We had a few solutions to choose from that did not require manager approval. If the issue could not be resolved with what we had to work with, then the manager’s approval was needed. Although most agents these days are given more freedom to make decisions, there are still boundaries that cannot be crossed or overlooked.Companies are bec oming more lenient and allowing employees to use their judgment in areas of customer satisfaction. Empowerment managers or employees make them feel content, capable, and competent. This in turn will elevate morale, enhance the company’s culture, and increase customer loyalty (Williams, 2012). Sources: Bohlander, G. , ; Snell, S. (2010). Managing human resources. Mason: Cengage Learning Williams, C. (2012). Effective management. Mason: Cengage Learning Wk 9: Dis Delegation is one of the important roles of management.In the class discussion for this week, you will practice demonstrating effective delegation techniques and strategies. Consider your own experiences in your discussion. Discuss the following: List three work tasks that managers could successfully delegate to employees. * A manager could instruct an associate employee to do simply housekeeping tasks such as sweeping, mopping, wiping surfaces and cleaning bathrooms. I feel that the delegation of power to the associat e employee gives the managers time to do more important tasks to the business. * A manager could delegate the responsibility of restocking merchandise.This delegation of authority not only frees up the managers schedule but also instill some pride for the employee on their involvement within the company. * A manger could delegate assistant manager to do inventory reports, scheduling other employees and making orders from vendors. This ensures that the assistant manager can continue the business the way the manager would run it in their absence. List three work tasks that managers should not delegate. * I do not feel that any form of Loss prevention should be handled by any other employee than the manager.With keeping this task with the manager the possibility of preventing employee theft goes up. * Keeping up and maintaining sales goals should not be delegated to other employees. If the employee is focused on sales goals their customer service skills could become lax in hopes of rea ching the goals. This could also place doubt the employees mind about the security of their position with the company. * Customer Complaints is also something that should be handled directly with the manager. With the manager having more experience with irate customers the situation is more likely to be resolved with as little conflict as possible.Explain your reasoning Wk 10: Dis In the class discussion this week, you will consider the age and gender aspects of diversity within your field of specialization. Discuss the following: Think of an organization within your industry with which you are familiar. What is the approximate age range of its employees? 18 to 45 years of age. What would you guess is the average age? I would say the average age is 34. Which gender is more prevalent within the organization’s workforce? The male gender is dominant in this industry. Are most of the managers female or male? Male.How do the factors above influence the effectiveness of the organiz ation? This particular organization, one of the leading garage door companies in the bay area, is open minded to both males or females holding any position, from a person of labor to General Manager, as long as you are qualified. Every employee is treated with respect ; professional behavior. Because each new employee is trained properly ; supported by the staff, it creates a work environment where people enjoy working there ; have been there for many years. The best way I can describe it is the company has a family atmosphere about it.

Tourism of Valais,Switzerland Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Tourism of Valais,Switzerland - Research Paper Example Every tourist area undergoes a life cycle that mainly consists of the exploration, involvement, development, consolidation, stagnation, and rejuvenation or decline stages. The involvement stage saw the establishment of a few hotels and the significant growth in the number of tourist arrivals in the destination. The domestic and German markets were the most popular at this time. The development stage saw the involvement of government and private developers in the establishment of infrastructures such as roads, airports and railway networks and expensive facilities for the expansion of the tourism sector. The consolidation stage was characterized by the improvement of infrastructure and tourist facilities so as to boost the tourism economy of the area. Over the last six years, the tourism sector has been on the decline stage with tourist arrivals reducing almost every year and the balance of payment only slightly improving.Valais has gone through most of the stages of the TALC model. A t the exploration stage, locals especially enjoyed the natural environment the number of tourist arrivals being quite low. Considering domestic tourist arrivals as shown in table one, it is evident that for the last six years beginning 2005 and ending in 2010, the popularity of Valais has been on the steady decline. This state of events is mainly as a result of the destination having reached a point of unsustainable development. The destination generally seems to be congested with little room for development.

The Role of Public Affairs in U.S. Military Operations Essay

The Role of Public Affairs in U.S. Military Operations - Essay Example The media has also improved the accuracy of reporting and allowed the audience to know their perspective. The benefit is especially important when there is an express need for the military to rapidly influence public opinion such as at the outset of a military action so as to mobilize immediate public support. The relationship with the media was strained during the Vietnam War but later the Department of Defense improved this relationship, which gave rise to the ‘embedded media process’. This had a positive effect on public opinion. In reality, conducting Public Affairs is a complicated task. It is a skill of the PAO to handle any kind of sensitive information and deal effectively with those who are informing and those are to be informed. The office of PA is very important in the age of real time news, and the public media has a very powerful influence and immediate effect such that army conduct can very easily have strategic consequences. This research paper begins with a brief description of the office of Public Affairs and the role of the Public Affairs Officer, and then surveys the important role of Public Affairs in US military operations focusing on how public media has had a positive influence on the US Army. However, some problems and deficiencies are also highlighted. Finally, a case study focuses on the PA and media experience in the war against Iraq. The offices of Public Affairs are important branches of the US Department of Defense that deal with the public media as well as playing a community role. They comprise of not only military officers and enlisted personnel but also civilians. The role of the main Public Affairs Officer (PAO) is to develop â€Å"a working relationship with reporters and other media representatives, maintaining a robust community relations program, keeping contact with other government agencies, and keeping†¦[its own internal members and the general public] informed on issues that may affect them† (Wikipedia,

Education and Training Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Education and Training Policy - Essay Example In the beginning of 2000, an emphasis is given for the changes in national implementation practices regarding executive and administrative structures of education, training and development systems. However, the administrations face the task of formulating policy for education and training and it needs transmission through a wide range of subsidiary competences to the institution levels. The differences in policy decisions with varying degrees of urgency and authority are subject to differing degrees of interpretation at various stages of implementation. The afore-mentioned aspect is due to complexity in the policy decisions and their implementation. However, the complexity is great when the policy is supranational policy (Phillips, David (Editor), 2003). 1 According to Adey and Philip (1994), there is a notion that the educational standards are not up to the mark in secondary school level and the afore-mentioned standards are regarding the acceptance of certificates of public examinations at secondary school level. ... The question of standards arises if there is wide acceptance for the notion of not considering the certificates of public examinations as the only criteria for standards in secondary education. The next question is about the complacency of teaching staff and ill designed material affecting the standards, as they may not stop students in getting certificates of public examinations in UK. If the later reason is true, the concern is about the methods that enhance the standards of education and the reliability and relevance of them to secondary education. The first step is to set up higher standards that can lead to higher achievement through fear of loss of job. However, the afore-mentioned aspect may lead to malpractices in education, as the impositions are not enough to enhance or bring out the ability of teaching staff. However, one should keep in view that the popularisation of educational policy may often result in crude instruments of intervention. When the interventions are crude , the methods have poor innovation in judging the standards of secondary education. The innovative intervention should have professional credibility that can lead to higher scores in national testing process. The creation and implementation of the afore-mentioned innovative interventions need investigation of the implications of our understanding about how children learn. Moreover, the understanding about the affects of curriculum on children and the way the professional development in children is affected by curriculum; ways and means of teachers and education policy decide the nature of interventions. For the afore-mentioned aspect, the emphasis on psychological foundations of innovation and a well

Chloride Contamination on the Groundwater, Soil and Plants Coursework

Chloride Contamination on the Groundwater, Soil and Plants - Coursework Example Water from sumps has been taken for measuring the surface water content and from deeper wells for sub surface water salinity. Finally, the soil was also sampled and the salinity of the soil was also measured. This was found to still be elevated though it has come down drastically on an average in all the three cases. The sub surface water sample was normally taken after bailing out the water in the sampling wells. Similarly, the soil samples are taken at a depth of 60 centimetres in line with the standard soil sampling technique. Surface water samples were picked up from the sump that was available. The sampled values were then used for analysis to find out the rate of chloride reduction in the sub surface water and soil. This would help in indicating to what extent the vegetation can grow in the soil at the heath. It was found that the soil conditions are not particularly, right for the tree growth. Though, even up to 20000 ppm in the tree, it was found that the presence of chloride may not adversely affect tree growth. The ideal ppm, however, is 4 to 8 ppm and that is the figure really looked at for vegetation to thrive anywhere. It is therefore, important that the work is completed by reducing the presence of chlorides further. ... 2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 3. DEDICATION 4. GENERAL INTRODUCTION The following placement project was carried out within the British Petroleum (BP), at Wytch Farm, which is an oil field and oil and natural gas processing facility in the Purbeck district of Dorset, England from 11th June to 1st September 2007. 4.1 Existing situation The Wytch Farm Oilfield, is the largest known onshore field in the UK, it lies beneath the southern shores of Poole harbour in an area of outstanding natural beauty famous for its landscape, ecology and amenity value (BP Petroleum Development, 1986). The Wytch Farm Oilfield, with its approximately 300 million barrels of recoverable oil, is a useful to the oil industry and to the local and national economy. It produces in present time around 70,000 barrels (approximately 11,365,000 litres) of oil per day. The oilfield consists of two major reservoirs, the shallower Birdport reservoir at 900 meters under the surface (BP Exploration, 1994) this reservoir was discovered in 1974, and later, it was developed to produce 4,000 barrels of crude oil per day (BP Petroleum Development, 1986). The larger and more productive reservoir is Sherwood reservoir, which is about 1500 meters below the surface (BP Exploration, 1994). The deeper reservoir (Sherwood reservoir) was discovered in 1978 but it remains under-developed. Production testing from one Sherwood well has increased and nowadays production is about 5,500 barrels of oil per day (BP Petroleum Development, 1986). The location of Wytch Farm is on the southern shores of Pool Harbour. This area is sensitive landscape that includes a number of conversation designations. Crude oil is extracted from the Wytch Farm, Wareham and Kimmeridge

Article review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Article review - Essay Example Students with different forms of disabilities present similar characteristics on the factors explored. According to the findings of the article, children with special needs have lesser and poorer social relations as compared to those with no special needs. The option of regular education for students with special needs is in this case beneficial. In essence, these students can interrelate with those without special needs to enhance positive social interrelations. However, it does not automatically mean a fruitful social interaction, since it always depends on how naturally social a person is, and the way they settle into their class setting. The information from the article is applicable in a class setting. From the article, I learned that it is necessary to instruct students with special needs in an inclusive classroom and provide opportunities for social interactions. They should not be secluded and taught or treated differently. There are increased social opportunities for special needs students in an inclusive class setting, but there is always a need to understand the individual characteristics of each student so that negative outcomes from introverts, such as loneliness, do not

Negotiating in a three-dimensional world Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Negotiating in a three-dimensional world - Essay Example Haggling is one of the most common types of negotiation in everyday business transactions. The aim of negotiation is mainly to establish a middle-ground with which either party is comfortable and contented. For a long time, people have always seen negotiation as a social theory that requires only skills and tactics during the round table meeting. However, modern day negotiators are using the revolutionary process of negotiation referred to as the 3-dimensional negotiation. This paper seeks to explain the elements of three dimensional negotiations as explained by Lax and Sebenius (2006). According to lax and Sebenius (2006), negotiation is not effective if given the usual one dimension style. They argue that traditionally, negotiations entailed the use of tactics to either gain the advantage under the topic of conflict or have such benefit distributed among the concerned parties. The usual one dimensional approach to negotiations sought either a win-win result or a win-lose outcome. H owever, practically speaking, such outcomes could only create more conflict where the parties to the clash were more than two. Lax and Sebenius (2006) explain that one-dimensional approaches only stimulate more conflict and yield unsatisfactory deals. Much like a gambling game, one-dimensional techniques are not appropriate where the other party is the holder of all the cards. It is for this reason that the two scholars came up with the three dimensional approach. The three dimensional system is a method of handling negotiations from three perspectives. According to the consultants, the three aspects of this approach are, The Tactics Dimension, The Deal Design Dimension and the Set up Dimension. In addition to these dimensions, Lax and Sebenius (2006) explained a final aspect referred to as the three dimensional audit. The three aspects of the strategy are designed in such a way that they cover the period before the negotiations, during the actual discussion and after the deal are s ealed. The set up dimension takes place away from the negotiation grounds. The side concerns itself with the parties to conflict and the subject matter of the conflict. In evaluating this dimension, the planner or the negotiator focuses on the actual parties involved in the conflict as well as the potential participants. In addressing the issue of the parties expected to attend the negotiation proceedings, the negotiator finds information on which to rely when planning the tactics. The set-up dimension is as well concerned with the subject matter of the negotiator. The negotiator seeks to establish ways in which the subject matter can be useful to them and how valuable they can be to the other party. The essence of this aspect then can be said to be the evaluation of the pie to be shared. Being a preliminary stage, the set-up section concerns itself with estimating the possible outcomes and expected maximum costs. Lax and Sebenius (2006) argue that, in every negotiation procedure, t here are unavoidable costs. Either party should make a provision for such costs prior to the actual negotiation process. Among the essential preliminary steps are the arrangements to hold private consultations with the key parties to the actual negotiations. This may involve the process of identifying the correct sequence of events, as well as, the hierarchy to be observed. Lax and Sebenius (2006) summarized this aspect as the process that concerns itself w

Monetary and fiscal policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Monetary and fiscal policy - Essay Example [1] Fiscal policy is the attempt to influence the level of economic activity through changing taxation and government spending. The fiscal policy helps in fixing aggregate demand through government spending and thus decides the level of economic activity in the country. IS or Investment Saving is a graph showing the balance between investment and savings. When plotted with income on the X axis and interest rate on the Y axis, the graph has a negative slope ie as the income increases, the supply of loanable funds goes down. This is to prevent an imbalance in the economy. The IS/LM model is a macroeconomic tool that demonstrates the relationship between interest rates and real output in the goods and services market and the money market. The intersection of the IS and LM curves is the "General Equilibrium" where there is simultaneous equilibrium in all the markets of the economy[2] There is a classical correlation between the monetary and fiscal policies and IS/LM. When there is a probability of inflation, which is rare in U.K as it has already been set at 2% by the government, the interest rates are increased by the government through the monetary policy. If the interest rates are high, demand slows down and the growth rate of the economy is arrested. If there are chances of a rapid inflation, the government can hike up the taxes that will in turn reduce spending. As a result, aggregate demand will be reduced and inflation will be controlled. Similarly, if there is a threat of recession, the government can reduce taxes and increase government spending. Lower taxes would translate in higher disposable incomes and thus, aggregate demand would increase. An increased demand would combat the recession and bring the economy back on its course. In other words, IS-LM can be said to show the relation between the theory of effective demand and the theory of liquidity preference. If we assume that there are only two

Boeing Company Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Boeing Company - Research Paper Example Boeing organization has a very unique business structure, which consist of two business solutions that are tied together. The two businesses of the Boeing organization are commercial airlines and the integrated defense system. The driving force behind the Boeing organization is the stakeholders, which include the employees, customers, communities and shareholders (Berridge, 2003). The management model used to direct the planning and focus of the company is a simple and effective method of planning and analysis that yield better results for the business. Good business results are driven by the Boeing’s aptitude to encourage leadership and growth in the organization. Boeing receives performance –driven management at all levels since it makes its employees to share in both their successes and failures through education. Planning is concerned with the future consequences and impacts of the present decisions of a company. In other words, Planning is a very important function of management and operation of Boeing Company. For this reason, staff cannot be mobilized and production can not begin unless planning is completed. The major function of management in any organization is to maximize the profits in order to benefit the company and the owners.

Cross Border Mergers and Acquisitions in India Essay Example for Free

Cross Border Mergers and Acquisitions in India Essay The corporate sector all over the world is restructuring its operations through different types of consolidation strategies like mergers and acquisitions in order to face challenges posed by the new pattern of globalisation. The intensity of such operations is increasing with the de-regulation of various government policies as a facilitator of the neo-liberal economic regime. The intensity of cross-border operations recorded an unprecedented surge since the mid-1990s and the same trend continues. Earlier, foreign firms were satisfying their market expansion strategy through the setting up of wholly owned subsidiaries in overseas markets which has now become a ‘second best option since it involves much time and effort that may not suit to the changed global scenario, cross-border mergers and acquisitions became the ‘first-best option’ to the leaders and others depended on the follow-the-leader’ strategy. The Indian corporate sector too experienced such a boom in mergers and acquisitions that led restructuring strategies especially after liberalization, Four types of growth strategies adopted by the firms. Firms started with domestic production and began to export to the foreign markets, establishment of subsidiaries in overseas market was the next stage and as a fourth phase, firms started to acquire firms in foreign markets instead of establishing subsidiaries. The increasing magnitude of investment through cross-border mergers and acquisitions and its emergence as a major component of FDI even in the case of developing countries such as India, why firms are engaging in cross-border consolidations instead of establishing subsidiaries or to engage in export-oriented growth.

Strategies to Improve Health in Glasgow

Strategies to Improve Health in Glasgow Improving the health of the citizens of Glasgow. Health The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines: â€Å"Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.† This definition is unchanged since 1948.[1] Demography of Glasgow According to the 2002 census, Glasgow has a population of nearly 580,000. This is more than 10% of the total population of Scotland that is just over 5 million. The metropolitan area of Glasgow houses about 1.7 million people. It is the largest city in Scotland and 4th largest in the UK. Slightly fewer than 24% of the population of Glasgow are below the age of 20 and slightly more than 15% are aged over 65 with about 7% over 75. This is similar to the rest of Scotland.[2] The ethnic mix is: 96.5% white, 2.5% Asian, 1% Black, Chinese and other ethnic groups.[3] Indices of deprivation were updated in 2007[4] for England but slightly different indices are used for the four home nations of the UK. The Scottish index was produced in 2006.[5] Although there are slight differences in the criteria, eastern Glasgow has the most deprived areas in the whole of the UK. However, Glasgow is a mixed conurbation with many affluent areas too. Health Inequalities The NHS was supposed to remove health inequalities but has failed to do so. The Black Report, commissioned in 1977 and published in 1980 found that little had changed in terms of health inequalities.[6] Sir Donald Acheson’s Report of November 1998 found little evidence of improvement.[7] A seminal paper by Dr Julian Tudor Hart in 1971 coined the inverse care law.[8] â€Å"In areas with most sickness and death, general practitioners have more work, larger lists, less hospital support and inherit more clinically ineffective traditions of consultation than in the healthiest areas; and hospital doctors shoulder heavier case-loads with less staff and equipment, more obsolete buildings and suffer recurrent crises in the availability of beds and replacement staff. These trends can be summed up as the inverse care law: that the availability of good medical care tends to vary inversely with the need of the population served.† Tackling health inequalities is a major component of the Government’s health policy. There are plenty of publications[9] but little evidence of change. Health and life expectancy have improved through all strata of society but the gradient down the social classes remains or has expanded. Some argue that this is a disgrace whilst others say that provided that there is improvement in all sections that this is an achievement. The WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health[10] was chaired by Sir Michael Marmot and looked at health inequalities not only in poor nations but also in the rich. It found that children born in the Calton area of Glasgow will live, on average, 28 years less than a person living eight miles awayinLenzie, East Dumbartonshire. There the life expectancy is 82 years compared with 79 for the whole of the UK. A Calton resident has a life expectancy of 54 years. The report said adult death rates were generally 2 ½ times higher in the most deprived parts of the UK than in the most affluent. Throughout the country and through all social classes, women live, on average, five years longer than men.[11] Mortality rates are high in Scotland, higher in Clydeside and even higher in Glasgow. They are especially high in areas of deprivation. Decreases in deaths from coronary heart disease (CHD) have been offset by increases in deaths from liver disease and suicide.[12] The challenge Glasgow is probably the most challenging city in the UK to improve health, if not the most challenging in the European Union (EU). The incidence of CHD and stroke is the highest in Western Europe and most of this is attributable to modifiable risk factors.[13] Rates of cancer are also high. The incidence of lung cancer is 77 per 100,000 in Western Scotland compared with 49 per 100,000 in the rest of the UK and most of this is accounted for by smoking habits.[14] Glasgow has been called â€Å"the UK’s fattest city†[15] Obesity is well known as a risk factor for CHD and diabetes but it also contributes to the risk of many cancers. The WHO says that obesity is second only to smoking as a cause of cancer.[16] If improvement in the health of Glasgow was aimed purely at reducing smoking and obesity it could have a major impact on health. Other areas where there may be significant benefit are a reduction in drug and alcohol abuse and safe sexual practices. Substance abuse and sex are related. Most prostitutes work to fund a drug habit and much injudicious sex occurs when intoxicated by drugs or alcohol. Intravenous drug use and promiscuity spread hepatitis B and HIV. Hepatitis C is very common with intravenous drug use but is less commonly sexually transmitted. Accidents and much violence result from intoxication, especially with alcohol. Between 1960 and 2002, the death rate from cirrhosis in men rose by 69% in England and Wales and 106% in Scotland. Amongst women it rose by nearly half.[17] Improving mental health is also extremely important.[18] It is often linked to substance abuse but it is difficult to decide if mental illness is caused by drug or alcohol abuse or a result of it. People often have more than one risk factor. This is why doctors use tables that examine several parameters to assess an individual’s risk.[19] Those in lower social classes are more likely to have multiple risk factors. For males, 30% in social class V have at least two or three high risk behaviours compared to fewer than 10% in social class I. For females, the figures are 20% and fewer than 5% respectively.[20] Some benefit may be obtained from improved medical services. Governments may help with alleviating poverty and economic regeneration but most intervention will be aimed at getting the individual to take responsibility for his own health. He has to understand the problem. He must want to change. He must be empowered for his own good. There is a vast amount of health promotion material that is readily available.[21] A single agency is limited in what can be achieved. It is important that many agencies and all levels of society should feel part of this great challenge to change the ways and the attitudes of the people of Glasgow. Government action Improving medical services to cope with those who suffer from the important diseases should improve outcome but disease prevention offers hope of a much greater improvement. Most of the risk factors for illness and premature death are modifiable and amenable to change by the individual. Legislation may come from the EU, UK or Scottish Government. It may change behaviour as in banning smoking in public places or it may address poverty and bad housing. Poverty is bad for health but poverty applies only to the lowest in the social scale whilst there is a gradient of health and life expectancy right across the social classes.[22] The benefit of giving money to poor families is unclear.[23] Laws may aim to curb tobacco or alcohol use. Raising taxation reduces tobacco consumption[24] and there are a number of ways of other ways of reducing alcohol consumption too.[25] Subsidy as well as taxation may make healthy food more attractive and unhealthy food less so.[26] Governments must assure funding for health promotion campaigns and may help with coordination across various departments. The NHS is an obvious department to be involved in both health promotion and provision of medical services. Education may be important in trying to change both knowledge and attitudes amongst young people. It can help to develop an interest and knowledge in healthy eating and cooking. It can aim to change attitudes to tobacco, alcohol and drugs and encourage an ethos of exercise. The Department of Trade and Industry may be involved in economic regeneration. Both the police and courts may be able to direct people with problems related to drug or alcohol abuse towards care rather than just a punitive system. The process of change Health promotion aims to get individuals to change to a healthier lifestyle. This is not easy to achieve. Change is rarely easy. It involves the individual going through several steps on the way to achieve a lasting change in habit and attitude. Health promotion initiatives The mechanism for health promotion is usually mass media campaigns. They seem to work for smoking cessation[27] and even in changing sexual behaviour in young people.[28] However, there is very little evidence about long term effects. Campaigns may be aimed at one facet or multiple risks. For example, diet, weight and exercise are intimately entwined. This may spill over into smoking, alcohol and drug abuse. Health promotion may be at a national, community or individual level. The individual level is usually when a patient is seen in a medical setting, especially general practice. Simply exhorting people to change is not enough. It must be facilitated. Most general practices have antismoking clinics where support, advice and even prescriptions to help withdrawal may be had. The subject has been extensively reviewed by both CKS[29] and NICE.[30] People must be helped to appreciate what is healthy food and that it is not more expensive than their traditional diet. Fun runs are of limited value as they are an isolated event. Changes in diet and exercise must be for life. The individual must find a form of exercise that he can manage and he likes or he will not persevere. Counselling and support for substance abusers must be available. Methadone can give stability to the life of a heroin user[31] and acamprosate can reduce the craving for alcohol[32] but counselling must not be ignored. Long term change In Europe it is usually suggested that inequalities in health are the result of inequalities in income. In the USA they focus on health literacy[33] and suggest that it is inequality in education that is responsible. As income and education tend to be related it is possible that one is a surrogate for the other. Health is worse in those of lower intelligence but this does not account for all the discrepancy.[34]. People from poorer backgrounds are more likely to smoke.[35] Smoking is the main cause of differences in death rates in middle age across socio-economic groups. In men between 35 and 69 years, it accounts for 59% of social class differences in death rates.[36] They are more likely to be obese[37] and this may be linked to the higher incidence of diabetes.[38] Abuse of alcohol is more prevalent as is drug abuse. They are more likely to experience teenage pregnancy[39] and to be involved in accidents.[40] Accidents are a major cause of death and disability in those under 45.[41] They are more common in lower social classes and in males more than females. This is not just due to high risk jobs as both poverty[42] and lower social class[43] are risk factors for children too. There is also a relationship between poverty and poor mental health.[44] However, as poor mental health causes social decline the question of cause and effect arises. Perhaps the most important aspect of long term health improvement is improvement in general education. Health literacy is closely related to general literacy.[45] People of poor health literacy have poor lifestyles, they present late with disease and are poor in compliance with management. Those with poor educational achievement have a dead end job or no job. They have low self esteem and are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, to smoke and have a poor diet. Teenage pregnancy is more common in low achievers. Improved education, improved job prospects and improved standard of living are the key to improving health. Bibliography: Social Determinants of Health by Michael Marmot and Richard Wilkinson. Oxford 2005. Promoting Health: A Practical Guide by Linda Ewles and Ina Simnett. Balliere Tindall 2003. Challenging Health Inequalities: From Acheson to Choosing Health (Health Society). Elizabeth Dowler and Nick J. Spencer. University of Bristol 2007. Footnotes: [1] World Health Organisation. WHO definition of Health. http://www.who.int/about/definition/en/print.html [2] Upmy street.com. http://www.upmystreet.com/local/my-neighbours/population/l/Glasgow.html [3] DirectGlasgow.co.uk http://www.directglasgow.co.uk/glasgow-information/glasgow-information.asp [4] Indices of Deprivation 2007. http://www.communities.gov.uk/communities/neighbourhoodrenewal/deprivation/deprivation07/ [5] Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/SIMD/ [6] The Black Report. http://www.sochealth.co.uk/history/black.htm [7] The Acheson Report. . http://www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/doh/ih/contents.htm [8] Tudor Hart J The inverse care law. Lancet 27 Feb 1971. 1(7696):405-12. [9] Department of Health. Search on â€Å"health inequalities†. http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/AdvanceSearchResult/index.htm?searchTerms=health+inequalities [10] WHO. Commission on Social Determinants of Health Final Report. 2008. http://www.who.int/social_determinants/final_report/en/ [11] Office of National Statistics. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=881 [12] Leyland AH, Dundas R, McLoone P, Boddy FA. Inequalities in Health Inequalities in mortality. MRC http://www.inequalitiesinhealth.com/public/index.php?cmd=smartyid=1_len [13] Scottish Government Health Directorates. Coronary heart disease/ stroke task force report. September 2001 http://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/publications/cdtf/cdtf-05.htm [14] National Cancer Intelligence Network. News release. 7th October 2008. http://www.ncin.org.uk/press/UKIM1008press.pdf [15] The Scotsman. 10th March 2003. http://news.scotsman.com/obesity/Glasgow-digests-UKs-fattest-city.2409145.jp [16] World Health Organisation. 2008. Cancer: diet and physical activity’s impact. http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/publications/facts/cancer/en/ [17] Leon DA, McCambridge J; Liver cirrhosis mortality rates in Britain from 1950 to 2002: an analysis of routine data. Lancet. 2006 Jan 7;367(9504):52-6. [abstract] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez/16399153 [18] Scottish Public Health Observatory. Mental Health: Policy Context. http://www.scotpho.org.uk/home/Healthwell-beinganddisease/MentalHealth/mental_keypolicy.asp [19] British Hypertension Society. Proposed Joint British Societies Cardiovascular Disease. http://www.bhsoc.org/resources/prediction_chart.htm [20] Department of Health. Health Survey for England 2003. Published December 2004. http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsStatistics/DH_4098712 [21] Health Promotion. PatientUK. http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/16/ [22] Office of National Statistics. Variations persist in life expectancy by social class. October 2007. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/le1007.pdf [23] Lucas P, McIntosh K, Petticrew M, Roberts HM, Shiell A. Financial benefits for child health and well-being in low income or socially disadvantaged families in developed world countries. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2008, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD006358. http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab006358.html [24] Leverett M, Ashe M, Gerard S, Jenson J, Woollery T. Tobacco use: the impact of prices. J Law Med Ethics. 2002 Fall;30(3 Suppl):88-95. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12508509 [25] Scottish Government. Effective and Cost Effective Measures to Reduce Alcohol Misuse in Scotland: An Update to the Literature Review. 2005. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/01/20542/50232 [26] Caraher M, Cowburn G. Taxing food: implications for public health nutrition. Public Health Nutr. 2005 Dec;8(8):1242-9. Review. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez/16372919 [27] Bala M, Strzeszynski L, Cahill K. 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Effectiveness Of Biologigal Wastewater Treatment Environmental Sciences Essay

Effectiveness Of Biologigal Wastewater Treatment Environmental Sciences Essay Wastewater treatment is a serious environmental concern due to the hazards of discharging poorly treated effluent to the environment. Poor wastewater treatment poses a pollution threat to receiving water bodies, groundwater pollution, soil contamination and resulting loss of biodiversity (Mantila, 2002). Dandora Estate Sewerage Treatment Works treats on average 62,000m3 per day annually of wastewater from Nairobi city and its environs through biological treatment and will form the study area. The population targeted in this study is wastewater received and treated at DESTW. The purpose of this study is to find out the effectiveness of biological wastewater treatment and the pollution potential of DESTW activities to the environment. An experimental research design will be used to determine the wastewater characteristics and contaminant removal while a descriptive design will be used to determine the environmental implications of wastewater treatment. The instruments used in the study are observation, laboratory experiments, leopold matrix, network analysis, and impact characteristic analysis. Data analysis will be done using both inferential and descriptive statistics. Wastewater treatment has been defined as the process of removing contaminants from wastewater produced by both domestic and industrial sources (Tchobanglous, 1993). Its objective is to produce treated effluent and sludge suitable for discharge or reuse back into the environment which is achieved through physical, chemical and biological processes. The issue of wastewater treatment and disposal assumed increasing importance in the early 1970s as a result of the general concern expressed in the United States and worldwide about the wider problem of pollution of the human environment, the contamination of the atmosphere, rivers, lakes, oceans, and groundwater by domestic, municipal, agricultural, and industrial waste (Oswald, 1996) A great deal of wastewater treatment plants are scattered all over the world and until recently not much scientific attention was given to these plants. They were considered to solve local problems so specific that one did not want to think it worthwhile to discuss design and operation of them in international fora. However, the interest shown for the 1st International Specialized Conference on Design and Operation of Wastewater Treatment Plants (Trondheim, 1989), and the IAWQ Specialist Group on the same subject (formed in 1991), demonstrated that there is a need to discussion on international scale the strategies for planning and the technical development of such plants. The reason for this interest must be found in the abundance of cases around the world where small wastewater treatment plants have to be put in operation to prevent environmental pollution and hazards. There is a global shift from the traditional centralized wastewater treatment system to locally based wastewater solutions (Hallvard, 1993) following the UN Decade for Water and Sanitation recommendations. The need for good solutions for wastewater treatment plants is therefore crucial in many developing countries. Developed countries mainly use mechanical and chemical treatment processes which though requiring less land are very expensive to establish and maintain. Alabaster (1994) cites that many developing countries favour the use of biological treatment which uses wastewater stabilization ponds since climate favours its operation and it is a low-cost, low-maintenance, highly efficient and natural method of wastewater treatment. The Dandora Sewerage Treatment Works (DESTW) which treats wastewater from Nairobi city and its environs uses biological treatment. However, due to stricter discharge standards set by National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA), DESTW is increasingly falling short of those standards. Parr and Horan (1994) highlight three principal reasons for wastewater treatment plants failure: a lack of technical knowledge, failure to consider all relevant local factors at pre-design stage and inappropriate discharge standards. Mara (1992) cites the following broad impacts to the environment due to poorly treated effluent: pollution of receiving aquatic water body, groundwater pollution from seepage of effluent, soil pollution from dumping sludge and health impacts from drinking contaminated water or food grown by the same water. 1.2 Problem Statement The problem under investigation in this study is the effectiveness of biological treatment in removing contaminants from wastewater and pollution potential of DESTW activities. Factors making the problem a critical issue to warrant research are: the physical treatment unit at DESTW has not been operational for the past four years; all pond series apart from series 3 and 5 lack anaerobic ponds; closure of series 8 due to water hyacinth infestation may overload series 7; lack of pretreatment facilities in many industries that discharge into the Nairobi city sewer network may reduce treatment effectiveness; and the environmental implications of groundwater pollution by effluent seepage and soil pollution by dumping of toxic sludge. Purpose of the Study Based on the problem stated the purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of biological treatment at removing contaminants from wastewater through empirical method of inquiry and propose sustainable methods of improving treatment effectiveness at DESTW. This study also aims at identifying the potential impacts to the environment resulting from DESTW activities and proposes methods of mitigating negative impacts based on findings. 1.4 Objectives of the Study The objectives of this study are as follows: To analyze the composition of wastewater received at DESTW To analyze the effectiveness of contaminants mass removal at DESTW To determine the pollution potential in relation to activities of DESTW To identify alternative uses of treated effluent 1.5 Hypothesis There is a positive relationship between the functioning of biological treatment and the quality of effluent at DESTW. 1.6 Significance and Justification of the Study This study addresses gaps in knowledge that exist in biological treatment effectiveness in treating wastewater from Nairobi, sewage effluent has long been cited as the cause of Nairobi River pollution, this study will quantify the extent to which effluent from DESTW pollutes the river. By addressing the above gaps in knowledge, the study will add to the body of knowledge in the field of wastewater treatment in Kenya. This study is important since the results will influence future environmental policies on wastewater management, recommendations will propose sustainable methods suitable for Kenya of further treating the effluent to ensure compliance with discharge standards, and they will also propose methods on improving existing methods of treating wastewater e.g. by harvesting methane gas from anaerobic ponds to provide electricity for running the physical treatment works. The findings and recommendations will mitigate negative impacts to the environment as a result of DESTW activities. Beneficiaries from findings of this study are the community surrounding DESTW who will enjoy cleaner groundwater resources and decrease health risks from eating vegetables grown by effluent or eating fish caught from oxidation ponds. Downstream users of R. Nairobi will enjoy cleaner river water which will decrease prevalence of waterborne diseases. DESTW will benefit from this studys recommendations by increased environmental compliance and they will also cut down on operational costs through generating electricity from anaerobic ponds methane gas. Researchers will benefit from this studys findings which will form background information and methodology reference for future related studies. Policy makers will use the findings and recommendations of this study in formulating policies for wastewater management in Kenya. 1.7 Limitations and Assumptions Limitations Length of the study was limited to 3 months from January to March 2008 where data was to be collected. To overcome this limitation, data for previous years was obtained from the DESTW database. Breakdown of some laboratory machines hindered analysis of samples e.g. water distiller breakdown prevented analysis on some days due to lack of distilled water. Lack of a permanent vehicle at DESTW prevented final effluent sampling on some days. Assumptions It is assumed that the reagents were not contaminated. It is assumed that the measuring equipments were calibrated properly. It is assumed that sampling and storage cans were kept clean to prevent sample contamination. 1.8 Study Area This study will be carried out at the Dandora Estate Sewerage Treatment Works (DESTW) which treats wastewater from Nairobi city and its environs using biological treatment process. The study area was chosen since it forms a representative sample of Nairobi city wastewaters. Commissioning The first phase was completed in 1977 and commissioned on 1978. The second phase was completed in 1990 and commissioned on 1992. Location DESTW is located at Ruai in Embakasi division approximately 30km from the city center and about 3km off Kangundo road. Access to the plant is on a permanent earth road. The site is approximately 1000ha and the oxidation ponds are on 200ha. Climate The climate is a typical Nairobi climate with temperature ranging between 15-30 degrees centigrade. The average rainfall is approximately 760mm with the most of the rains falling in two seasons, March to May (long rains) and October to December (short rains). Geology, soils and topography The geology of the area mainly comprise of Nairobi volcanics covered by black cotton clay soils. The area is generally flat with Nairobi River forming the north Eastern boundary of the land. Flora and fauna The area is generally arid with scanty vegetation cover, mainly sisal and shrubs. The ponds have attracted crocodiles and hippos from the nearby Nairobi River since they provide habitat and cheap source of food to for fauna and flora. Large colonies of different species of birds such as birds of prey (e.g., buzzard, golden eagle, and barn-owl), garden and woodland birds (e.g., pigeon, crow, and sparrow) water-birds and sea-birds (e.g., heron, swans, kingfisher, and curlew), and game birds such as quail hovered around the stabilization ponds during the day. Mudfish and tilapia fish have also been introduced in the maturation ponds to assist in quality monitoring. Number of ponds and arrangement There are a total of 38 waste stabilization ponds at DESTW which occur in 8 series. Facultative and maturation (aerobic) ponds run in parallel. Only series 3 and 5 have anaerobic ponds. Types of ponds There are three types of ponds at DESTW and these are: Anaerobic ponds- they are 4.0m deep and measure 100m by 100m. They are deigned for organic matter removal e.g. helminth eggs. Facultative ponds they are 2.5 m deep and measure 700m by 300m. They are designed for BOD5 removal. Maturation ponds- they are 1.5m deep and measure m by m. They are designed for nitrogen and phosphorus removal. Pretreatment and flow measurement facilities DESTW has a conventional inlet works where large suspended solids are screened by coarse bar screens before being automatically raked by cup screens. Grit is removed by use of constant velocity grit traps. A venturi flume is provided for flow measurement. CHAPTETR TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Nature of Wastewater 2.1.1 Origin and Quantity Wastewater originates mainly from domestic, industrial, groundwater, and meteorological sources and these forms of wastewater are commonly referred to as domestic sewage, industrial waste, infiltration, and storm-water drainage, respectively(Mara, 1997). Domestic sewage results from peoples day-to-day activities, such as bathing, body elimination, food preparation, and recreation, averaging about 90 liters per person daily in Kenya (Asano, 1998). The quantity and character of industrial wastewater is highly varied, depending on the type of industry, the management of its water usage, and the degree of treatment the wastewater receives before it is discharged. A typical metropolitan area discharges a volume of wastewater equal to about 60 to 80 percent of its total daily water requirements, the rest being used for washing cars and watering lawns, and for manufacturing processes such as food canning and bottling (WHO, 1992). 2.1.2 Composition The composition of wastewater is analyzed using several physical, chemical, and biological measurements. The most common analyses include the measurements of solids, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and pH (Pena, 2002). The solid wastes include dissolved and suspended solids. Dissolved solids are the materials that will pass through a filter paper, and suspended solids are those that do not. The concentration of organic matter is measured by the BOD5 and COD analyses. The BOD5 is the amount of oxygen used over a five-day period by microorganisms as they decompose the organic matter in sewage at a temperature of 20 ° C. Similarly, the COD is the amount of oxygen required to oxidize the organic matter by use of dichromate in an acid solution and to convert it to carbon dioxide and water. The value of COD is always higher than that of BOD 5 because many organic substances can be oxidized chemically but cannot oxidize biologically (Curtis, 1992) . Commonly, BOD5 is used to test the strength of untreated and treated municipal and biodegradable industrial wastewaters. COD is used to test the strength of wastewater that is either not biodegradable or contains compounds that inhibit activities of microorganisms. The pH analysis is a measure of the acidity of a wastewater sample. 2.2 Biological Wastewater Treatment 2.2.1 Waste Stabilization Ponds Technology Overview Waste stabilization ponds (WSPs) are usually the most appropriate method of domestic and municipal wastewater treatment in developing countries, where the climate is most favourable for their operation WSPs are low-cost (usually least-cost), low-maintenance, highly efficient, entirely natural and highly sustainable (Alabaster, 1994). The only energy they use is direct solar energy, so they do not need any electromechanical equipment, saving expenditure on electricity and more skilled operation. They do require much more land than conventional electromechanical treatment processes such as activated sludge but land is an asset which increases in value with time, whereas money spent on electricity for the operation of electromechanical systems is gone forever). WSP systems comprise one or more series of different types of ponds. Usually the first pond in the series is an anaerobic pond, and the second is a facultative pond. These may need to be followed by maturation ponds, but this depends on the required final effluent quality which in turn depends on what is to be done with the effluent: used for restricted or unrestricted irrigation; used for fish or aquatic vegetable culture; or discharged into surface water or groundwater (Horan, 1994). Prior to treatment in the WSPs, the wastewater is first subjected to preliminary treatment à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢screening and grit removal à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ to remove large and heavy solids. Basically, primary treatment is carried out in anaerobic ponds, secondary treatment in facultative ponds, and tertiary treatment in maturation ponds. Anaerobic and facultative ponds are for the removal of organic matter (normally expressed as biochemical oxygen demand or BOD), Vibrio cholerae and helminth eggs; and maturation ponds for the removal of faecal viruses (especially rotavirus, astrovirus and norovirus), faecal bacteria (for example, Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., Campylobacter spp. and pathogenic strains of Escherichia coli), and nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus). Due to their high removal of excreted pathogens, WSPs produce effluents that are very suitable for reuse in agriculture and aquaculture. 2.2.2 Related Research on Biological Wastewater Treatment Mandi (1993) in his comparative study of Wastewater treatment by stabilization ponds with and without macrophytes under arid climate found that ponds using water hyacinth proved most efficient than those using microphytic plants (algae). Howver, the process based on water hyacinth for wastewater purification is faced with two major problems: first the water loss by evapotranspiration reaches 60% during summer time and secondly the development of mosquito during summer time. He however does not address the huge quantities of biomass produced from water hyacinth treatment systems and the resulting increase in sludge deposition rate. Ghrabi (1989) in his experimental study Treatment of wastewater by stabilization ponds application to Tunisian conditions concluded that sediment accumulation occurs mainly in the first pond: the deposition rate is high (5 cm/year). In the maturation ponds, it ranges from 1.3 cm/year to 1.6 cm/year. The first pond can be desludged yearly or once each two years. He however in his study doesnt mention the environmental impacts of sludge to the soil and he also doesnt suggest methods of decreasing the amounts reaching the wastewater stabilization ponds. Jensen (1992) in his study on the Potential use of constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment in Northern environments concluded that wetlands achieve 98% phosphorus removal, 88% BOD removal and 55% nitrogen removal respectively. COD removal was only 64% due to discharge of organic matter that is slowly biodegradable e.g. humic acids. This study however didnt estimate the productive lifespan of the constructed wetlands. 2.3 Problems in Wastewater Treatment and Disposal 2.3.1 Wastewater Treatment Plant Problems Many wastewater treatment plants (WwTP) of all kinds in developing countries do not function properly. Parr and Horan (1994) found that there are three principal reasons for WwTP failure: a lack of technical knowledge; failure to consider all relevant local factors at the pre-design stage; and inappropriate discharge standards. As a result, wrong decisions are often made and inappropriate unsustainable treatment processes are selected and implemented. This is then exacerbated by the absence of any real incentive to operate the WwTP correctly once it has been commissioned. It is therefore essential for the long-term sustainability of WwTP that simple efficient technologies such as WSPs are always considered at the pre-design (or feasibility) stage. An honest comparison of the cost-effectiveness of wastewater treatment technologies will almost always favour the selection of WSPs in warm-climate countries. 2.3.2 Environmental Problems of Wastewater Treatment and Disposal If wastewater is discharged before it is properly treated, it can adversely affect the environment, public health and destinations economic well-being. The cost of these negative impacts can be expressed in monetary, health and ecological terms (Mara, 1997). Mantila (2002) identifies a number of consequences of poorly treated wastewater: Health Impacts from pathogenic bacteria, viruses and toxic algae cause diarrhoea, shellfish poisoning and other diseases; bathing in polluted water causes gastroenteritis and upper respiratory diseases; eating polluted shellfish results in hepatitis, liver damage and in some cases death. Impact on Marine Environment in the form of suspended solids may cause excessive turbidity and shading of sea grasses, produce sedimentation, damaging benthic (bottom layer) habitats and affect anaerobic conditions at the sea bottom; high BOD levels may cause severe oxygen depletion especially in shallow and enclosed aquatic systems such as estuaries that are ideal breeding grounds for various marine species resulting in fish deaths and anaerobic conditions which release bad odors(hydrogen sulfide); adverse nutrient levels cause algal blooms, resulting in the death of coral and sea grasses and eutrophication leading to severe oxygen depletion which kills living resources; many toxic materials and suspected carcinogens and mutagens can concentrate in fish tissue, putting humans at risk when they eat them; metals in specific forms can be toxic to humans and various marine organisms especially shellfish which is vulnerable, in areas with highly contaminated sediment layers; fats, oil an d grease that float on the water surface interfere with natural aeration, are possibly toxic to aquatic life, destroy coastal vegetation and reduce recreational use of waters and beaches. Impact on Groundwater and Water Resources in the form of improper disposal of wastewater can directly impact the quality of an areas groundwater and water resources and since their movements are dynamic, contaminants can spread far beyond the immediate pollution area. 2.4 Wastewater Management Options Oswald (1995) states that the following issues should be addressed before designing an effective wastewater management plan: assess current wastewater management practice before water is discharged to the municipal treatment facility, identification of sources of wastewater, determine whether discharged wastewater quality meets effluent standards, identify whether industries carry out pre-tretment of their wastewater and finally assessing complaints from users of reclaimed wastewater effluent. Once the situation has been assessed, a range of approaches and techniques to deal with wastewater can be considered. Bartone (1996) argues that to ensure effective treatment o wastewater, the volume has to be reduced to prevent overloading of wastewater treatment plants and this can only be achieved at the source through installation of water efficiency equipment e.g. ultra-low flush toilets, spray nozzles, low-flow showerheads, water spigots, all which reduce overall water consumption. Collection of domestic wastewater and transportation to a distant treatment plant is a difficult and highly expensive task, if the catchment area to be served is low in population density (Tchobanoglous, 1993). Onsite treatment of sewage is the alternative and has been applied al around the world for many centuries. However, purification achieved by traditional onsite treatment systems such as septic tanks (DIN, 1993) is rather poor especially with respect to nutrient removal and as a result impacts on the quality of groundwater are inevitable. The basic idea of the biofilter septic tank was introduced by Toshio Yahata (1981) and further developed by Stubner and Sekoulov (1987). The biofilm reactor septic tank has been found to be more efficient (Robert, 1996) and effluent can be reused for irrigating or flushing toilets. 2.5 Conceptual Framework This study is based on the conceptual framework below that aims at optimal use of resources in an environmentally sustainable manner. Stage Description The main sources of generation are households, commercial and industrial sources. This is done through the sewer network in Nairobi and conveyed to DESTW. An annual average of 62000 m3 wastewater reaches DESTW daily It aims at screening solids and grit removal from wastewater stream. Coarse bar screens- remove large suspended solids Medium bar screens remove smaller suspended solids Cup screens- remove finer suspended solids Grit traps- remove grit and sand particles from wastewater Involves use of wastewater stabilization ponds Anaerobic ponds are designed for organic matter removal Facultative ponds- are designed for BOD removal Maturation ponds- designed for nitrogen and phosphorus removal Treated effluent disposed of in Nairobi River Effluent reused for agricultural irrigation and livestock watering. Fig 1: Conceptual framework for wastewater treatment and disposal in Nairobi.(Adapted from WHO,1992) CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research Design The design used in this research is experimental since analysis of wastewater quality is done in the laboratory. It is also descriptive since the state of the environment and biological treatment process are described. The approach used in this study is deductive since it begins with the perceptual experience and observation of an environmental problem, leads to hypothesis formulation, experimental design, data collection, statistical analysis, theory construction, and finally to explanation. 3.2 Population and Sample Population The population targeted in this study is the wastewater received and treated at DESTW which averages 62,000m3 per day annually. Sample types Grab samples were necessary for parameters such as pH, ammonia, and faecal indicator bacteria. Flow-weighted composite samples were necessary for raw sewage parameters such as electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen, Frequency of sampling Raw sewage was sampled hourly because its composition varies considerably throughout the day. Flow was sampled hourly throughout the day. Final effluents were sampled once daily before noon. Pond series were sampled once every week. Nairobi River upstream and downstream was sampled once a week. Data Collection Instruments 3.3.1 Field Observation Environmental impacts will be identified using field observation which will be aided by the following instruments a) Leopold matrix It is a grid-like table that is used to identify the interaction between project activities, which are displayed along one axis, and environmental characteristics, which are displayed along the other axis. Using the table, environment-activity interactions can be noted in the appropriate cells or intersecting points in the grid. Entries are made in the cells to highlight impact severity or other features related to the nature of the impact, e.g. numbers in this study are used to indicate scale in this study. This instrument was chosen for environmental impact identification because it links the action to the impact, shows impact magnitude and significance, and is a good way of displaying environmental impact results. b) Network analysis Networks illustrate the cause-effect relationship of project activities and environmental characteristics. They are, therefore, particularly useful in identifying and depicting secondary impacts (indirect, cumulative, etc). They are drawn by identifying first order impacts first then linking them to second order impacts and third order impacts by use of an arrow. This instrument was chosen for environmental impact identification since it links the actions to the impacts, is useful I simplified form for checking for second order impacts and can handle direct and indirect impacts. c) Impact characteristics analysis It is normally in the form of a summary table and this instrument was chosen for environmental impact identification because it shows impact nature, magnitude, extent/location, timing, duration, reversibility, likelihood (risk), and significance. 3.3.2 Laboratory experiments Experiments were performed to determine the composition of wastewater at DESTW and the mass removal of contaminants from the wastewater. The apparatus below will be used during the laboratory experiments: Plastic sampling cans were used to collect and store samples. A wooden pole with 1cm graduations was used to measure depth at the venturi flume. A refrigerator was used to store samples at below 4 degrees Celsius. Burettes, conical flasks, pipettes, beakers, and digestion tubes were used to hold samples and reagents when analyzing for various parameters in the laboratory. Ovens, digestion blocks, water baths, and fume chambers were used in creating conducive conditions for chemical reactions to take place in the laboratory. Pan balances, beam balances, UV spectrophotometers, atomic absorption spectrophotometers, water quality meters and flame photometers were used to measure values of various parameters in the samples. 3.4 Data Collection Procedures 3.4.1 Laboratory Analysis Procedures Parameters will be analyzed according to Alabasters 1989 Practical Guide to the Monitoring of Waste Stabilization Ponds standard operations manual that was adopted by the DESTW laboratory. a) Flow This will be measured on the raw sewage and final effluents using the venturi flume which is a restriction in the channel carrying wastewater. The formula below was used to calculate flow. Q =2à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬ ¢3 à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¡2/3 g CV.CD . b. h3/2 Where Q= flowrate m3/s CV = coefficient of velocity CD = coefficient of discharge b = width of throat (m) h = upstream depth (m) b) COD total and filtered The micro-digestion sealed tube method will be used with potassium dichromate as digestion solution and ferrous ammonium sulphate as titration solution. Procedure 1.5 ml of digestion solution is dispensed into a digestion tube, 2.5 ml of sample is added using a pipette and mixed well, 3.5 ml of catalyst solution (silver sulphate in 2.5 liters of sulphuric acid ) is added, the tube is capped tightly using a PTFE sealing gasket, the tubes contents are then mixed by gentle swirling, the tubes are then placed in a digestion block at 1500 C for 120 minutes, contents of the tube are transferred quantitavely to 100ml conical flask and sufficient water added to a final volume around 25 ml , 1 drop of ferroin indicator is added and the solution mixed well, it is titrated with FAS (N/40) until the faint blue colour changes to red and the value of the titre T ml recorded, a blank titration is carried out following the same procedure but using distilled water instead and the value of blank titre B ml recorded. COD calculated as follows: COD = (B-T) / S ÃÆ'- 1000 mg/l c) BOD total The standard 5 days, 20 0C, BOD bottle test will be used. Reagents Dilution water, ferric chloride solution, manganous sulphate solution, sodium azide solution, alkali- iodide solution, 90 % orthophosphoric acid, N/40 sodium thiosulphate, starch solution. Procedure Dilution water is prepared, sample added and incubated at 200C for 5 days to determine dissolved oxygen, remove stopper from the BOD bottle and 2ml each of manganous sulphate solution, sodium azide solution, alkali- iodide solution, immediately after the addition of alkali-iodide reagent a brown flocculent precipitate forms therefore the bottle is shaken to ensure that all the dissolved oxygen reacts with the reagents, when the floc settles add 2ml orthophosphoric acid and shaken until the bottle contents turn yellow, 205 ml of the bottle contents is titrated with N/40 sodium thiosulp